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Apology for beach dumping in Foxton

5 Jul, 2018 3:00pm

5 minutes to read

A truck driver from a contracting company that dumped truckloads of material on Foxton Beach claimed he had council permission, a witness says, but both the district and regional councils have said there was no permit or consent.

A contractor who dumped truckloads of vegetation, soil and other matter on Foxton Beach has landed in hot water after witnesses shared video footage and photos online, prompting local outrage.

A Higgins truck was seen on the beach on Friday, tipping its load at the water line several times.

While some of the material has washed away into the sea, large clumps of vegetable matter remain on the beach days later, over a stretch of several hundred metres near the surf lifesaving club building.

'Higgins has apologised to the Horowhenua District Council and will be doing a beach clean-up for 200 metres each side of the surf club as a contribution to the environment as well as removing the material deposited erroneously. We are very sorry this has taken place, and have put in place better briefing procedures to ensure this doesn't happen again.'

A man who witnessed the dumping said he was stunned to see the branded truck "thunder" past him while he was walking on the beach on Friday, and then stop at the low tide line to dump a load directly onto the sand.

"This ruddy great Higgins truck came bouncing past us, it pulled straight in front of us and promptly dumped its load on the beach," he said.

The witness, who wished to remain anonymous, said he stopped the truck driver the second time the truck came back, to ask him what he was doing, and the driver claimed he had council permission to dump there.

The witness said the dumped material contained plant matter, soil and earth and also some bottles and bits of metal.

Horowhenua District Council confirmed Higgins had been working for them at the time, but said it had not given any permission to dump on the beach.

Horizons Regional Council also said it did not issue any permits or consents to the company and Higgins said on Monday the material was carried to the beach as the result of a "misunderstanding".

A media statement from Higgins was not provided independently, but was instead sent through Horowhenua District Council's communications department.

A Higgins spokesperson said in the statement the company had carried out an internal investigation and the incident was a misunderstanding.

"Higgins has apologised to the Horowhenua District Council and will be doing a beach clean-up for 200 metres each side of the surf club as a contribution to the environment as well as removing the material deposited erroneously. We are very sorry this has taken place, and have put in place better briefing procedures to ensure this doesn't happen again," the spokesperson said.

Horowhenua District Council interim group manager infrastructure services Rob Green confirmed Higgins was working under the council's maintenance contract at the time and had been carrying out kerb clearance work. He said the council did not permit material such as this to be dumped on the beach and did not, in this instance, give permission for it to be disposed of in this manner.

A contractor who dumped truckloads of vegetation, soil and other matter on Foxton Beach has landed in hot water after witnesses shared video footage and photos online, prompting local outrage.

A Higgins truck was seen on the beach on Friday, tipping its load at the water line several times.

While some of the material has washed away into the sea, large clumps of vegetable matter remain on the beach days later, over a stretch of several hundred metres near the surf lifesaving club building.

A man who witnessed the dumping said he was stunned to see the branded truck "thunder" past him while he was walking on the beach on Friday, and then stop at the low tide line to dump a load directly onto the sand.

"This ruddy great Higgins truck came bouncing past us, it pulled straight in front of us and promptly dumped its load on the beach," he said.

The witness, who wished to remain anonymous, said he stopped the truck driver the second time the truck came back, to ask him what he was doing, and the driver claimed he had council permission to dump there.

The witness said the dumped material contained plant matter, soil and earth and also some bottles and bits of metal.

Horowhenua District Council confirmed Higgins had been working for them at the time, but said it had not given any permission to dump on the beach.

Horizons Regional Council also said it did not issue any permits or consents to the company and Higgins said on Monday the material was carried to the beach as the result of a "misunderstanding".

A media statement from Higgins was not provided independently, but was instead sent through Horowhenua District Council's communications department.

A Higgins spokesperson said in the statement the company had carried out an internal investigation and the incident was a misunderstanding.

"Higgins has apologised to the Horowhenua District Council and will be doing a beach clean-up for 200 metres each side of the surf club as a contribution to the environment as well as removing the material deposited erroneously. We are very sorry this has taken place, and have put in place better briefing procedures to ensure this doesn't happen again," the spokesperson said.

Horowhenua District Council interim group manager infrastructure services Rob Green confirmed Higgins was working under the council's maintenance contract at the time and had been carrying out kerb clearance work. He said the council did not permit material such as this to be dumped on the beach and did not, in this instance, give permission for it to be disposed of in this manner.